Nationwide Current account or Halifax ?

p00hsticks

morganlefay wrote: »

The Natwest TV ads nauseate me and I wonder how much of my annual £293.00 goes to Fred Goodwin.
Any views greatly appreciated..........

If you object to nauseating TV ads, why are you even considering the Halifax ?

Inactive

morganlefay wrote: »

Have just applied for the Halifax account but when I tried to do the same for the Nationwide one it asked if I was planning to use this as my 'main' account ie have my salary paid in there. I said no, and they said 'well you can't have an account then...' I could do the thing with the Halifax and move the money around, but I'm not organised enough and would be bound to get it wrong some months. I was planning to use the nationwide like a small savings account but use it when abroad, but it seems I can't do that. have you got any ideas FluffyFiFi ?

Trick is to open a small savings account with Nationwide first, then they will let you have a FlexAccount as well I believe, without regular funding.

gazelle8760

Inactive wrote: »

Trick is to open a small savings account with Nationwide first, then they will let you have a FlexAccount as well I believe, without regular funding.

Hi

Has The Gazelle perhaps missed this trick?

I opened my Flex Account in May, perhaps before The Nationwide decided to change their criteria for account openings, and I wasn't going to use it as my main account, but having got quite a few products from them since May, I have now switched my main Salary to them.

I have also dealt with Halifax, who I loath with a passion, they stopped my Current Account back in 1997 as I went over my overdraft limit, and then only offered me a basic account, and were the most unhelpful bank I have ever had the misfortune to deal with, their charges are ridiculous, they give inaccurate information and they treat their "basic bank" account holders like second class citizens, so my advice to the OP would be to chose Nationwide and steer clear of Halifax Bank, If they were the only bank to exist on earth, I wouldn't hold an account with them, I couldn't wait to get shut of them and it was the best move I have ever made.

The Nationwide must be getting wise to the account opening process, as now it seems when you apply on-line for their Flex Account, you have to stipulate more requirements than was before, so in other words, I think they would rather you utilize their account as your main account, and not just something you open for overseas transactions:D

agsnu

morganlefay wrote: »

I wonder how much of my annual £293.00 goes to Fred Goodwin.

I'd guess 0%. In FY08, RBS' total expense was £ 54,033m. Fred Goodwin's pension arrangements were an increase of £8.5m in his pension pot.

So in FY08, Fred Goodwin's pension arrangements (recognised as a one-off expense of £8.5m) would have contributed about 0.016% of RBS' expenses. Which would be approximately 4.5p of your £293.

FluffyFiFi

Inactive wrote: »

Trick is to open a small savings account with Nationwide first, then they will let you have a FlexAccount as well I believe, without regular funding.

All FlexAccounts are credit scored and it does not matter how many accounts are held with the Society. They have only recently changed the criteria for the Flex as in the past they were easy to open.

Inactive

FluffyFiFi wrote: »

All FlexAccounts are credit scored and it does not matter how many accounts are held with the Society. They have only recently changed the criteria for the Flex as in the past they were easy to open.

Right, fair enough, however I read this on here;

" Loophole

Yet you can also apply if you’re a Nationwide mortgage customer, or if you’re 16-21 and transferring from its Smart account. Alternatively, if you’ve more than £2,000 in savings with the society, or if you’re opening one of its online savings accounts.

So simply open its e-Savings or e-Savings Plus account, at the same time as the Flexaccount, and deposit just £1 to qualify.

There's no change for existing FlexAccount holders who'll get the cheap overseas perk, even if it's not their primary account.

A Nationwide spokeswoman says: “We want to build relationships with customers and we want to encourage them to use this as their main account." "

morganlefay

p00hsticks wrote: »

If you object to nauseating TV ads, why are you even considering the Halifax ?

Because the Natwest ads make a big thing of saying that the Bank doesn't do a number of things it definitely did do when RBS took over: closed branches, removed the managers, fail to answer phones, introduced a completely faceless facade, treated its customers as if they were a nuisance. So their ads saying that they don't do these things are completely dishonest. I have no experience of the Halifax (with whom I have other, savings, accounts) blatantly shouting that they don't do bad things when they do. And I've got to keep my money somewhere. And Fred Goodwin...need I go on ?

Twister84

morganlefay wrote: »

Because the Natwest ads make a big thing of saying that the Bank doesn't do a number of things it definitely did do when RBS took over: closed branches, removed the managers, fail to answer phones, introduced a completely faceless facade, treated its customers as if they were a nuisance. So their ads saying that they don't do these things are completely dishonest. I have no experience of the Halifax (with whom I have other, savings, accounts) blatantly shouting that they don't do bad things when they do. And I've got to keep my money somewhere. And Fred Goodwin...need I go on ?

I don't recall the Natwest ads mentioning that "they've closed branches, fail to answer phones, introduced a completely faceless facade, or treated its customers as if they were a nuisance."

And why would they say that in the adverts? When Woolworths and MFI went into administration, did they change the adverts to reflect how the jobs were being affected and the future of the companies?

Adverts are there to promote the company, or in this case of Natwest, the facilities available (whether you agree with them or not, is a different matter). I don't see why an update is needed regarding jobs, and various other things.

As for the OP's situationm like with most things, it's down to personal experience and it's unfortunate, of course, when a customer is lost, but please don't tar everyone with the same brush.

As a final note, I'd just like to say that the banks have just done what needed to be done - moved with the times. A bit like the OP here

morganlefay

Twister84 wrote: »

I don't recall the Natwest ads mentioning that "they've closed branches, fail to answer phones, introduced a completely faceless facade, or treated its customers as if they were a nuisance."

I didn't say that's what they said in the ads - actually what pi**ed me off was that they said (not in the current ads but earlier ones) that these were things they didn't do, when to my certain knowledge they closed branches (my own included) introduced faceless call centres, 'rationalised' offices so that instead of having managers sitting in local branches we now have 'relationship managers' located in places you can't get to (mine is 40 miles away) who never answer the phone. And when I go into what is nominally 'my' branch to cash a cheque (armed with my bank card and cheque book) I get asked for picture id because - as the cashier said - 'I don't know you'. Blimey - I didn't know her either but that had been 'my' bank for some 15 years (after they closed my branch down). I have now taken to carrying my passport with me, but really that shouldn't be necessary, surely ?
Anyway we all feel differently about things, and I feel unhappy about this: I don't want to argue with anyone about it as this is just about my experiences, and I was actually asking for advice about Halifax or Nationwide. How I feel about the Natwest, having banked with them for 50 years is doubtless really tedious for other people, so I'll shut up.

Twister84

morganlefay wrote: »

Twister84 wrote: »

I don't recall the Natwest ads mentioning that "they've closed branches, fail to answer phones, introduced a completely faceless facade, or treated its customers as if they were a nuisance."

I didn't say that's what they said in the ads - actually what pi**ed me off was that they said (not in the current ads but earlier ones) that these were things they didn't do, when to my certain knowledge they closed branches (my own included) introduced faceless call centres, 'rationalised' offices so that instead of having managers sitting in local branches we now have 'relationship managers' located in places you can't get to (mine is 40 miles away) who never answer the phone. And when I go into what is nominally 'my' branch to cash a cheque (armed with my bank card and cheque book) I get asked for picture id because - as the cashier said - 'I don't know you'. Blimey - I didn't know her either but that had been 'my' bank for some 15 years (after they closed my branch down). I have now taken to carrying my passport with me, but really that shouldn't be necessary, surely ?
Anyway we all feel differently about things, and I feel unhappy about this: I don't want to argue with anyone about it as this is just about my experiences, and I was actually asking for advice about Halifax or Nationwide. How I feel about the Natwest, having banked with them for 50 years is doubtless really tedious for other people, so I'll shut up.

I appreciate what you're saying and there are other solutions, but if I were to go into detail, it'd mean going off topic. As I said, it's down to personal experience at the end of the day.

Nevertheless, good luck in finding your new bank


PS. I'd go for both accounts - why not?